


Luminous Beings are We

by AnnaCipactli12



Series: Path to Destiny [3]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV), Star Wars - All Media Types, The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Angst, Complicated Relationships, Family Drama, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 00:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8822023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaCipactli12/pseuds/AnnaCipactli12
Summary: Three-shot. These men and women have lived through the old republic, some of them during Robert's Rebellion, been brought back to life to fight the Empire and after that, to see the new republic their descendants fought for, crumble. Every time their faith is put to the test and every time they come stronger until they face the ultimate trials and they wonder if it has all been for nothing?





	1. Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn

_"Come on, come on, put your hands into the fire_  
explain, explain as I turn in the power ...  
pull up, pull up as I turn from one extreme to another ..."  
 **~Into the Fire by Thirteen Senses**

_“No one is beyond redemption. Ask yourself … can you say that some people are really worth saving?”  
**~Jeremy Irons, Law and Order: SVU**_

The first time that she saw her daughter playing with that boy, she told her to stop. The second time, she found herself unable to say something without causing a scandal, or worse, to make Wolsey suspect, making him reach the conclusion that she wasn’t Henry VIII’s daughter. But God knows she tried.

Anne tried as well. She called her stepdaughter to her rooms for a second time. She was thankful for the way she had treated Elizabeth, but didn’t like Anakin’s nighttime visits. He had filled Elizabeth’s heads with impossible dreams of adventure and exploration and gave her stepdaughter, hope.

“Lady Anne.” Mary said with a smile, expecting her father’s so called wife to lay a hand on her or worse but to her chagrin, she didn’t. Instead, she told her ladies except Nan to leave them then told Mary to sit.

Mary did so and asked her why she had called her to her chambers.

“I know that you have been seeing that Jedi Knight and I know that his apprentice has been covering for the both of you.”

“My virtue-“

“You do not have to justify your actions to me. It is your father I worry. You are still his pearl and he talks about you frequently to his ambassadors, hoping that they will marry you to some minor noble and we will not hear any more of you. But as it happens, I have been good at convincing him not to. Now I am beginning to regret it.”

Mary said nothing.

Anne told Nan to leave them and make sure no one came unless it was urgent.

“You have been kind to my daughter and for that I am thankful. The death of your mother hurt you and I can’t express my condolences enough but as you know, I need a son from His Majesty and so far, the only way I can make Henry still interested in me is by showing you friendship. So, I ask you again. Be my friend?”

“No.” Mary said. And added, feeling blunter: “My mother died a Queen. She was a good woman. One I hope to become when I have children of my own. I recognize no other Queen but my mother but if my father’s mistress were to marry her under the one true church then I will go down on my knees and kiss you.”

“I expected you’d say that. Luckily for you and I, I do not need your approval when I can have your husband’s.”

Mary’s brow furrowed. Her eyes showed confusion and then fear. Fortunately, what Anne said next wasn’t what Mary believed she knew about her and Anakin.

“I won’t marry to a minor noble but I will grant your mother’s last wish by marrying you to that whore Lannister Queen’s son Tommen.”

“But he is already married.”

“So? It is said she is not satisfied with her daughter-in-law. If she goes, then you are next in line of prospective brides. It is time you start behaving like a lady. For all her stubbornness and arrogance, at least your mother knew when to bend the knee, it is time you do too.”

“No. I won’t marry him. I will marry no one else but Anakin.”

“Ha, ha!” Anne let out a raucous laughter. “Wake up my dear. He is a man and like all men he is only interested in you because you are something “new” and men are always interested in exotic things.” She told her, unaware until she finished that it was the same thing her mother had told her when she discovered Henry VIII started granting her favors.

Anne’s sense of déjà vu grew when Mary rose from her chair and said in flawless French: “I am not like any other women. He loves me and only me. He’s promised to honor me-“

“Yes, I am sure he has. To honor you and look on no other woman but you. Have you heard the rumors? He is very close to that Senator of Naboo and who can blame him when she is five, six, or seven is it? I can’t remember. She is older than him, mature and previously being a Queen, she has the right connections.”

“Anakin doesn’t care for any of that stuff. Senator Amidala is only a friend.”

“He’s been on various missions with her and has rescued her more than any other creature, including yourself. What makes you think he will leave behind a woman as grand as her for a bastard?”

“I may be a bastard to you but to the rest of Christendom I am the King’s trueborn daughter and one day I will be Queen!”

“You really are way too trusty. I can’t blame you, he is very handsome and if he really is the chosen one, to someone like you that must feel like an added bonus. The damsel in distress, rescued by her Jedi Knight, her messiah.”

Mary screamed at her and Anne let her then told her to leave. Mary didn’t need to be told twice. She left on her own accord and that night, while Anne slept, she was visited by Anakin.

“You shouldn’t listen to that woman. She is jealous. I said I’d protect you and I will. I love you and only you.” She believed him. The following morning, Anne saw the two kissing while she held her daughter in her arms, begging Henry not to cast her off.

 _I will die and that idiot will fall for that ruffian._ She cursed Anakin Skywalker. People thought he was a messiah. They didn’t see right through him like she and Catherine had. _He is going to be our death_.

And she was right. Several decades later, they had to watch as everything they held dear was taken from them. Catherine’s daughter and Anne’s survived but their joy was momentary. _Like everything else in our lives._

Elizabeth was still being courted by Ned Targaryen. The two played a game of hide and seek. They were both hunters, chasing each other and enjoying the chase. Elizabeth rose high in the Galactic Senate, eventually replacing Jane Seymour after she retired from her long held position as First Senator of Earth.  
Elizabeth was cheered by many. She was fashionably dressed and cultured while Ned was serious and orderly. They perfectly complimented each other.

The same couldn’t be said for Catherine. Every night she watched her former rival look at a collage she made of her daughter. It was a holo-collage that showed her when she was a child, portraits of her when she was a baby, a teen, and photos she had taken from the media from when she had been an Inquisitor and afterwards when she had lived with Anne.

Whenever Anne asked Catherine if she was okay, Catherine would smile. Being the great actress that she was, she would say “yes” and add another convincing smile that fooled everyone minus her.

* * *

_"Lady Anne, can I ask you a favor?” Mary Kenobi asked her former stepmother._

_“Of course.” Anne responded._

_Mary picked her granddaughter from her bed. She began to squirm. Mary calmed her down giving her a smile and singing to her the same song she sang Elizabeth and the girl’s father, Owen, when they were young. “That’s it my sweet. There is no need to cry.”_

_“I had a bad dream granny. I don’t want to leave you.”_

_“Nothing bad is going to happen. The dark side was vanquished by the rebel alliance with the help of your mommy and daddy.” She told her, poking her nose. The child giggled._

_“When I come back, can you tell me the story of the Princess and the Jedi Knight again? I like happy endings.”_

_“I promise.” Mary said. “Now go to sleep. Your great-grandma needs you to be patient, so does your auntie Anne. No messing around, ok?”_

_“Ok.” She told her granny and closed her eyes._

_It was one of the few times that Anne saw Mary as the happy girl she’d once been when she had been the center of attention at Henry VIII’s court._

_She walked up to Anne. “I asked for Anakin to come later this afternoon and I was wondering if you and my mother can watch over her while Anakin and I spend some time together?”_

_Anne nodded and wished her well. She took the child and got aboard her speeder, driven by her protocol droid, C9 115. “Oh, Lady Anne!” Mary called, waving her hand at her before she told the droid to go._

_Mary’s granddaughter was not as heavy as children her age. But that didn’t stop her from running around her manor or in Catherine’s, and playing with other children in the neighborhood. The girl had the Tudor and Stark looks with the Targaryen violet eyes. Although Mary was her grandmother, she also called Catherine her granny despite everyone telling her that she wasn’t. Like her mother, she was stubborn. When she was five, she was told she had to start calling Catherine ‘great-grandmother’ or ‘great granny’ but she stood her ground and said she was going to keep calling her granny like she called Mary ‘granny’ and nobody was going to change her mind._

_Anne was about to tell the protocol droid to go when Mary shouted. Since she couldn’t go out because of the restrictions put on her by the new republic, she yelled, hoping that she caught her before she went to visit her mother._

_“What is it, lady Mary?” Anne asked, looking down at the sleeping child, feeling relieved that her grandmother hadn’t woken her up._

_Mary smiled and called to R2-D2. The droid was wary of Mary. He was good at reading people, especially those he had grown close to. There was something in Mary that seemed off. And he didn’t like not being present when Anakin came. The R2 unit yearned to see these two together again. He had begun recording everything and storing it in one of his data-banks._ **When we are all dead and gone, I want people to know that here stood heroes, bastards, whores, princesses, knights and monsters who fought for truth and justice.**  
But Mary insisted him to go, giving him a data disk. Asking him not to show it to anyone but to Anne and her mother after they put her granddaughter in her crib.  
R2 wanted to ask ‘why?’ but he knew better than to ask Mary anything. She had been very cryptic lately.

_“R2 will accompany you. I have given him a data disk. It is a video I recorded of myself that I want my mother to see when you get there.”_

_“You can show that to her yourself. The Naberries still control this sector but I have enough money to pay whatever fine they impose me.”_

_“No, I wouldn’t dare to impose. Just tell her that I am sorry I couldn’t be there but I really want to be here for-“_

_“It’s alright lady Mary, I understand. Come R2.” R2 rolled down and was helped into the speeder by the protocol droid. When they were out of view, Mary closed the doors behind her._

* * *

Everything had seemed so normal. Catherine was playing with her granddaughter when Anne all of a sudden yelled at herself mentally for forgetting Mary’s important message.

* * *

_“Mary told me to give you this. She says she is sorry she couldn’t make it but she has been begging me to let her have the mansion all to herself for when Anakin arrives.”_

_“Ah.” Catherine said with a smile, putting her granddaughter to bed. It was a new one that she had made just for her with new plush toys and model doll houses. Catherine knew she would wake up screaming, jumping up and down and saying “thank you” many times while hugging her ‘granny’.  
“I didn’t know the dark lord of the Sith was coming for a visit. Had I known. I would have asked the Naboo council to let my daughter out so they could have the guest room next to mine.”_

_“Catherine, please. Your daughter is not a sex-crazed idiot. And even if she were, she loves him and he has been a good man to her this past year since Lyanna died.”_

_“I know but that doesn’t make it any easier and besides, what is life without pointing out his defects?”_

_The two women laughed._

_Anne told R2 to come and show them the recording. R2 began playing it. But as soon as he did, he made a dreadful sound and after the recording finished, Catherine screamed and Anne told R2 to connect her with her mansion at once._

_Hearing Catherine’s screams, Obi Wan appeared in front of her. R2 played the recording for him. Catherine had seen him at his best and worst, but not R2. For the first time, the little droid recording a terrible expression that he had never been privy to in the legendary Jedi’s face: Panic._

_Anne knew it was more than that. Failing to connect her with her house’s communication system, she saw Obi Wan’s world being destroyed all over again._

_“My baby girl … my child … I-I can’t …” Tears fell down her eyes. “Obi Wan … please, help her. Do not let her fall …”_

_“I won’t.” Obi Wan promised, his face dead serious. Catherine made him promise again, beating her fists against his cold form._

_Anne and Catherine didn’t want to wait. After he banished, the two went to her speeder. R2 and a servant girl would look after the poor babe who was unaware that she would be orphaned of another family member._

* * *

Anne and Catherine had been too late. When they’d arrived, there was nothing but a bloody corpse on the stony floor.

Anakin had arrived moments before. He was also late. The only person who had stood a chance to convince her not to jump was Obi Wan but he failed.

Catherine and Anne found Anakin holding Mary in his arms. She looked so peaceful. The former Sith Lord wasn’t bothered by the brain matter and blood on his jacket and hands. It was if he was rocking her to sleep, pushing the strands of dark red hair from her face.

He seemed to be in a type of trance for a while when he closed his eyes until he opened them.

* * *

_“Anakin, you can’t bring her back.” The Jedi ghost said. A tear strolled down his eye as his former apprentice let her go and her mother took his place and embraced her, placing a kiss on her forehead._

* * *

Despite Catherine’s pleas to give her a Catholic burial, Anakin won in the end. Showing their son-in-law’s, their “infinite mercy”, they granted him his wish. She was buried in a private ceremony.

Anne’s daughter and other acquaintances were there. Elizabeth offered a small prayer while Ned gave a few words. Sir Thomas Seymour and his sister, the (then) first Senator of Earth, Jane Seymour, gave Catherine their condolences. Ned held his niece’s hand and whispered something in her ear. Only Catherine heard what it was. She later told Anne that Ned had told her to stay strong and that she had her memories that would keep Mary alive in her heart.

Catherine didn’t cry or cross herself as any Catholic hypocrite or over the top Christian would have. He was not that arrogant woman anymore. She smiled and thanked him. When she was about to cry, she told their friends that she was glad for having had Mary as a daughter. “I could not have asked for a better daughter.”

The only person who didn’t react at was Anakin. His eyes as his face revealed nothing. Not even when Han Solo approached him to tell him (in his own way) that he regretted Mary’s death. Not even when Marion looked at him and her wife offered their condolences, not even when Luke and Jane Kyra told him that they were there for him.

He was hollow. Obi Wan tried to reach him but he didn’t respond. Catherine overheard him tell Obi Wan “You have taught me a great deal, Obi wan. Thank you.” Then left.

It was not until the Naboo authorities came and told them that they had an eye witness testimony from the cemetery where Mary was buried that Anakin had dug up her grave and taken her body.

* * *

_“Where is he taking my daughter? Hasn’t he done enough already?”_

_Sir Thomas and Jane were there along with Anne trying to sort things out and also acting as a support group for Catherine._

_“I don’t know. Anakin said that when he found Mary that he’d bring her back but it makes no sense at all! If he is trying to bring her back why would he take her body off world and …” Obi Wan trailed off. He turned his back on them then turned back and swore._

_“What is it?” Sir Thomas asked._

_“Obi Wan, where is he taking my daughter?” Catherine asked seeing the look of horror on her lover’s face._

_“I know exactly where he is going.”_

* * *

 

Obi Wan Kenobi told them about Mortis and the story about the Force Wielders and how some had _ascended_ to a higher level of existence. Or so the Jedi believed. Some Jedi scholars were of a different opinion, including the recent historians of Earth who had become well versed in pre-Imperial galactic history. They believed that the Force Wielders (or Celestials as some called them) hadn’t ascended or become light-beings as Obi Wan and others after they died but merely went on to be reborn in other forms or became part of the Force.

That explained Mary’s ancient form. Before she was born to Catherine, she had been a powerful Force Wielder, revered as a deity on Earth. Twisted by her descendant’s revenge, she had become consumed by darkness. Thus, she became an easy target for the Sith and the red priests who through Catherine and Obi Wan’s affair, forced her to be reborn in human form.

Mary was by all means their daughter, but suffering had made her a different person. It had made her aware of the people she’d hurt and forced her to change. Brought back to life with all the memories from the past, and with the trauma of her death, she would be no different than the vengeful deity the Woodville had summoned to curse their enemies.

* * *

_“So this place, this dark place was used as a Sith ritual?” Jane Seymour asked._

_“Not exactly Senator. In the beginning the Force Wielders used it as a place of memory, to remember those who had passed on to a better life. They’d used their energy to bring back someone back to life. They would always be careful that they brought back the right person. Someone who wouldn’t be traumatized after he or she came back. Ashoka was the last one but she came back a few miles away from the cemetery.”_

_“Then how do you know that it will not be the same with Mary? Maybe she could come back as our Mary?” Catherine asked._

_Obi Wan shook her head. “The ground hasn’t been used for a thousand years since the last recorded battle between the Sith and the Jedi before the Empire was fought. The Sith themselves knew the ground had turned sour and wouldn’t go near it. One of the Sith holocrons that Ezra and his companions recovered from the Sith Temple before Anakin and Mary killed Ashoka showed the Sith Emperor burying his eldest son there. It was what led to his downfall. He killed his stepmother, his lover, his twin brother and lastly his sister before his father killed him. The ground is sour, Catherine.”_

_“If Ashoka could come back miles from there as good as Anakin who used Jon Targaryen’s life-force then surely our Mary can come back …”_

_“I am sorry Catherine. There is no hope for her. She is lost. She can’t come back. If she does, she won’t be our Mary anymore.”_

_Catherine sobbed. Obi Wan embraced her._

_After Obi Wan left, he came back to inform them the worst. Not a second later, Jane received a call. “The authorities have just reported two kidnappings. Lady Stoneheart whom we finally captured received ‘help’ and Ruwee Naberries was taken from his summer house in Felucia. His wife and granddaughters have been demanding answers.”_

_“Why call you? Don’t they have their puppet with the new elected Queen? They did fund her campaign as they did the late Governor Sio Bible’s grandson and his great-grandson to the Senate.” Sir Thomas Seymour commented, doing very little to hide his distaste for the Naberries._

_“They obviously know that Obi Wan has been visiting us and with the rising threat of the new order and the student movements, they probably are aware that it was Anakin who took them.”_

_“Anakin. Anakin! I am tired of that man. That man ruined all our lives. We can’t let him ruin others, even if they are guilty.” Catherine said. Everyone agreed so they turned to Obi Wan again and asked him why he’d take them._

_“Sacrifice.” He said. “When the Father’s ancestors began to bring back troubled people, they realized that it wasn’t enough just to bury them and use part of the Force to bring them back. They also had to sacrifice a living thing.”_

_Everyone looked at him in horror._

_“The more powerful the person was, the more sacrifices that were required of them.” Obi Wan explained. “A person like Mary with ancestry like mine will require more than one sacrifice. Lady Stoneheart descends from Force-sensitive and she has been brought back from the dead by a red priest and Ruwee, although he is not Force-sensitive, Anakin will want to sacrifice him either way for what he did to our daughter.”_

_Sir Thomas recognized a look in the man’s face that he had seen on other men and asked what more was he hiding._

_“You need more than two sacrifices to bring back someone like Mary. You need to pay homage for who she was and what she suffered.”_

_“What does that mean?” Anne asked, dreading the answer._

_“Mary was Melusina. She did a lot of terrible acts out of love. Even if she has been forgiven by most of the old Rebel Alliance, her acts carry weight. A person as damaged as her will either become crazy when she comes back and that is assuming that Anakin doesn’t kidnap more people to bring her back, or worse as something … simply worse.”_

_“How worse?” Catherine demanded._

_“Simply worse, Catherine. There are legends of people coming back possessed by evil spirits, the night sisters or Sith who took over their bodies and went on a murderous rampage.”_

_“Makes sense.” Jane Seymour said. “Some Earth historians believe that is what happened to the last Sith Emperor. It still doesn’t tell us where the burial place is.”_

_“I can show you but I doubt a court a law will order a search warrant on the basis of a dead man’s opinion.” Obi Wan told her._

_“They will if they look at the Jedi records and find what you, that man and his apprentice reported on your time at Mortis.” Catherine pointed out. She felt determined again. She wanted her daughter back but if the price was bringing back a demon from hell, then she didn’t want any part in it. She’d rather remember her daughter as the caring, penitent woman she had become than a demon._

_“Will that hold up in court?” Anne asked Jane._

_“It might but the Jedi records are not easy to come by these days. The students protest every day and they are no different than the youths who join the ranks of the First Order.”_

_“How long are we looking at?” Anne asked her._

_Jane sighed. “Five, maybe ten weeks.”_

_“By that time Anakin will have murdered as many people as needed to bring Mary back. We do not have that much time.” Anne said._

_“What do you want me to do Anne? Hmm? I am bound by law and you can ask anyone else, including Bess, they will give you the same answer.” She turned to Obi Wan. “You better hope that you can reach Anakin in time. If you can still sense him, tell him that this is a mistake.”_

_Obi Wan nodded._

* * *

More weeks passed. Nothing but distressing news. The courts were taking longer than what Jane had anticipated. The academy students protested the bureaucracy and broken promises of the new republic, while demagogues rose to power in many sectors, threatening to leave if their demands weren’t met.

Then news finally came but it wasn’t good. Obi Wan told them that he had been keeping a secret from them. He wasn’t able to sense Mary since she died.

* * *

_“Mary was a Force Wielder in her past life. You should have been able to see her the moment she died. You told me everything would be fine.” Catherine said. She was angry. How could Obi Wan keep a secret as big as this from her?_

_Obi Wan replied, equally angrily: “It is not my job to question the Force! I thought she’d appear soon or to Anakin. I didn’t know she was part of our plane until Yoda told me that she was somewhere else.”_

_“And where is this ‘somewhere else’? What did the Force do to my baby?”_

_Obi Wan opened his mouth but closed it. Could he be honest with her and tell her the truth? No. Lie to her. But he couldn’t. “There are many dark places in the universe and in other dimensions. Before she was reborn as our daughter she was part of one of those planes.”_

_Catherine looked horrified. She brought a hand to her mouth. “My daughter is in hell. After everything she did … why?”_

_“I-I don’t know. I don’t know where that place is but I can tell you that it is not hell but it is filled with dark energy. The dark side has a dark presence there. Legends said that is was inhabited by the Old Ones. After the Sith established the rule of Two, they renamed them as the Great Old Ones. Revan had a fascination with them. She said that their kingdom held wonders unlike anything in this universe.”_

_“My daughter should not be there. If anyone needs to suffer it should be me. I led her to becoming the monster she became when she joined the Empire. I pushed her into Arthur’s arms by keeping the secret of her parentage from her. I mocked her and bullied her and beat her when she was Bella and I wasn’t there for her when she needed me. It should be me.”_

_“Catherine, you can’t blame yourself.” Anne said. If what Obi Wan said was true, it was unfair but it was even more unfair to hear Catherine blame herself. The woman had done what no other woman had done and stood by her daughter. She could have done much worse and killed her. She knew royals who let their sons die as soon as they became a nuisance. Catherine’s own family did that to Juana. She wasn’t like them._

_Indeed, she was an oddity among the royals. If she was her parents as she often boasted in the past, she would have let Mary die or given her to the troops for enjoinment. Instead, she put up with her and comforted her when her sons had died._

* * *

Catherine should have known then that Obi Wan was right. But she still clung to hope. Then Obi Wan came and told them the truth. Anakin had made sacrifices to bring Mary back and she did come back. Not as the Mary they knew but as something else.

For nearly a year, she and Anne watched over her grandchild. It was weird, watching this child turn seven. This precious thing they adored and played with when their uncle wasn’t busy looking after Bess’ and Jane Seymour, or training new recruits.

It was also odd seeing two women who were once enemies raise this child together. Anne told Catherine that it wasn’t Mary whom Anakin had killed. It was a specter but that didn’t help. They both knew the truth.

Catherine’s precious little girl was never truly her daughter. Whoever or whatever she was, she had embraced the dark side. It was the reason why she came back as young and beautiful as she did.

There were many moments when Catherine had questioned her faith but her faith always prevailed because no matter what, there was the absolute certainty that someone up there was watching out for her. There was no such certainty now. The child she bore and raised was never truly her own. Mary, Melusina, she was a trickster.

* * *

On the twelfth day of Christmas, a day that was widely celebrated by many terrestrials, including non-Christian ones, Catherine took down her collage on Mary.

“She is still your daughter Catherine. You bore her for nine months. You felt her kicks, you hugged, played with her. It doesn’t matter who she was before, she was your child.”

Catherine shook her head. She gave the collage to one of the droids and told it to store it where she had all her antiques. “She was never my daughter.” _Or Obi Wan’s for that matter_.


	2. The Sword of the Morning and the Damsel in Distress

_“No change, no change,_  
I can change, I can change …  
But I am here in my mold ...  
I am here in my mold …  
And I am a different million people  
from one day to the next, I can change …”  
**~Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve**

Arthur Dayne had sacrificed himself in the name of duty and to preserve his friendship with the crown Prince, Rhaegar Targaryen. Or so that is what he made others believe. The truth was far more complicated.

When he saw Elia, he was just a boy of ten. He had heard of her and he had many times to talk with her when her mother, the Princess of Dorne visited but like many boys at the time, he thought girls were disgusting and a waste of his good time. Then he got older and saw her as the beautiful woman she had become and talked to her. He was shy at first but once he started talking, he couldn’t stop.

His older brother made fun of him. And Elia, sweet, kind Elia, was just that. Too sweet to laugh at his face. He told her that he had dreams of joining the Kingsguard or traveling the world and have adventures. He then boldly asked her if she’d join him.

“Me? A Kingsguard?” He nodded, smiling wider when she leaned forward and kissed his lips.  
“Come, let me show you a secret place. It is near the water gardens.” She then told him and like a lost puppy, he followed her. She had his wrapped around her finger. He’d die for her, jump from the highest mountain just to please her.

And then one day, she met him at their secret place to tell him some “wonderful” news. She was going to marry Prince Rhaegar. His world shattered. She assured him, he was nothing special. “I have you by my side. You said you wanted to be a kingsguard, this is your chance. Be my knight in shining armor?”

Once again, like a lost puppy, he did her bidding and once again, he was hurt.

Staring at the painted ceiling of the Inn he had been staying in for three months, he turned to the woman lying next to him.

“What happened next?” She asked him. Her voice was similar to Elia’s. _But she is not Elia._ _No one can ever be like Elia._ She was the first and only woman he fell in love with. But Ambrosia was special too. _Yet, she doesn’t compare to the sweet and proud woman whom I failed._

“You know the story. I tried hard to hide my feelings from her but when Rhaegar found out, he felt betrayed and sent me to guard his new girl-toy.”

“Girl-toy. That is cruel, even for a swordsman like you.” His bed mate said, rolling and coming on top of him. “Do you hate her? Lyanna Stark for taking up the position of Elia in your friend’s heart?”

“For a time. When I heard that her granddaughter had died, I was overjoyed and celebrated drinking a cup of the most expensive wine I could afford. But as the years went by, I began to pity her.” Like Elia and him, she had no say in her destiny.

“I haven’t forgiven her. I haven’t gone to that point but give me a few years and I might. Eternity is a long time to reassess one’s views.”

She smiled. Her eyes were brown like Elia’s but her hair was light brown like her birth mother. _She is an odd combination of her parents_. Ambrosia had come to this planet seeking asylum. Nobody asked questions, outside of the usual. People immediately assumed that she was a space pirate hiding from the First Order or the New Republic troops. Arthur knew right away who she really was the moment he saw her.

“That is a start.” She agreed, giving him a sweet smile. She then sighed. “We should really check out in a better hotel. I am getting pretty bored of this one.”

“We could start looking for an apartment complex. It’d be less nice but we wouldn’t have to pay this much and it could save us time taking the public transport to go to work.” He said, bracing himself for her passionate kisses.

When she was on a good mood, she was on fire. When she wasn’t, it felt like he was battling a wild animal. She was an addiction and like a drug addict, he found it hard to let go of her.

_She is far too good for you_. A voice in his head said. The same voice that had told him to stay away from Elia and berated him for standing up for her when Rhaegar nearly slapped her. _She will be your death._ It continued. _Remember who she is_.

He was not blinded by her beauty as he had been with Elia. He knew exactly what she was. And in case he ever forgot, she reminded him every time they were together.

_Aye, she is probably going to be my death but I still want to be by her side._

* * *

Arthur watched the crowds applaud to the First Order _. First it was the new republic. Now it is the First Order. What will they cheer for next?_

Probably the Resistance.

The Resistance was big when it came to showmanship and its leaders, the former Princess of Alderaan and Lady Tyrell, who now called themselves General Organa and Commander Tyrell, were revered by a large number of young men and women.

Arthur chuckled. _The galaxy is a stage and we are all the fools of fortune’s wheels._  
No matter how many governments came promising them change, none of them ever delivered.

Yet … he could understand why so many people had gone over to the First Order. True, there were many young men and women that flocked to General Organa and Commander Tyrell. But there were also many that had joined the ranks of the First Order. In the beginning their numbers were largely comprised of the offspring of the fugitive Imperial officers, but as disaffection with the new republic grew, the new generations began to leave the government their parents fought so hard to establish and join their sworn enemies.

 _First Order._ It was a stylish way to say ‘new empire’ without being so blunt about it unlike the Resistance whose leaders lacked any imagination.

These youths saw a government that worked. A government that did terrible things but at least protected its people and wasn’t confined by boundaries such as the “tenets of righteous speech” that the idealist students who flocked to Leia and Marion advocated, or were in the pockets of the highborn and powerful companies like the politicians of the new republic.  
They didn’t care how many people were beaten and tortured as long as their loved ones remained safe.

Arthur turned away. It was getting too painful to watch. He returned to his apartment. At last, he had listened to Ambrosia and bought one that the two of them could afford and was close to where they worked.

Ambrosia was seated on the couch. Her eyes were practically glued to the plasma screen. When she turned to him, she gave him a worried expression. “Have you seen this? They are all over the news.” Her eyes returned to the screen. He sat next to her and watched what she was watching.

The news anchor reported on more systems falling into the hands of the First Order.

“While the new republic is bickering on what to do next, the First Order has acquired new sectors. Joining me now is none other than the former Lady of Winterfell, Lady Targaryen-Hux nee Stark.” He chuckled turning over to an older woman sitting across his desk. “Wow, that is handful. How do you ever manage at dinners? I imagine everyone must be like ‘should I call you Lady Stark? Or Lady Targaryen?’ I mean, how do you do it?”

Sansa chuckled. A graceful and delicate laughter. Not the crude and mocking one that her aunt Lyanna, gave to him and Ser Gerold. “It gets very easy. When I was a girl growing up in Winterfell, my sister and I would make up stories with my best friend Jeyne about whom we would marry and we would always start by saying ‘you are Lady A, I am Lady Sansa and she is Lady J.’”

“So I can call you Lady Sansa then or Lady S?”

“Lady Sansa sounds better.” Sansa Stark said giving him a sweet smile.

This is what dominates the news nowadays. _She-Wolves and slithering little bastards who have not one drop of honor in their bodies._

“So tell me, we have received reports of more worlds falling in line to the First Order-“

“We prefer to call it realignment.”

“How so?”

“Karnak, the media isn’t talking about how the new republic has failed these systems. After they won, the new government promised them food and rewards for their services-“

“Well, some would say that they weren’t in this for monetary rewards. They were tired of the massacre, the inequality, the injustice-“

“Exactly, that is why they are realigning with the First Order because they  didn’t get anything of what they thought they were going to get from the new republic. Karnak, look, here is the situation: The First Order has brought them food, rebuilt their houses, crime rates have dropped. What has the new republic offered them except empty promises? People do not live out of pure love and empty promises. They need food, clothing-“

“The new republic has given them those things before-“

“At what cost? For every food supply they offer them, they charge them extra not to mention the tax exemptions they’ve given to their highborn friends whose interests they place above those of the people they are supposed to serve. Don’t forget, if it weren’t for the people suffering in these backwater planets, the rebel alliance would have never defeated the Empire.”

“But Lady Sansa, what Snoke is giving them in return is death. I mean, there has to be a middle ground. At some point, people have to say ‘stop!’ we want this but we don’t want to be subjected to your oppressive rules.”

“Unfortunately Karnak, as good as your argument sounds and it would probably work in an ideal universe, the reality is that we are where we are now because of the new republic’s bureaucracy. You either choose to stay with them or their resistance that is just going to forget about them as soon as the fighting is over or you stay with us. We, the First Order fulfill our promises. We protect our own. Your problems are our problems.”

“So that is how it is then, us vs them?”

“Like I said Karnak, we must face reality. You either choose to be on the side of the lying new republic or stay with us. There is no middle ground.”

Arthur sighed. He grabbed the remote and turned it off.

“No middle ground, just like Cersei. I should have known. She was trained by the best of liars.” Ambrosia said. Arthur could tell what she was thinking by the tone of her voice and how frightened she had become after the former Lady of Winterfell’s last warning to the news anchor, Karnak Altos.

“We are safe here. They can’t find us unless they know what they are looking for and thanks to Anakin, they won’t.”

“What if they do? A leak, a word of mouth. It is just a matter of time before someone in the new republic gets bought or caves under pressure and tells them about us ...” She trailed off then resumed. "My mother could find out about us too. She hasn't forgive me for running away."

"Better her than the others."

"You do not know my mother. I have seen the look in her eyes when she was taken down along with her friends. It is the same look I have seen in the First Order's top officers."

"Your mother is not like the First Order and in any case, if she were to turn against us too, I will protect you.”

“No one can protect me from my family, much less from ** _her_**.”

Arthur didn’t need to ask whom she was referring to. He saw her masked face on the news every day. A young woman whose future held so much promise and who like him was a skilled fighter but who unlike her late peers, had turned to the dark side and slaughtered them along with her dark companions. They had become the face of fear.

“I have faced far worse than the knights of Ren my lady.” He said, calling her by her old title for the first time in years.

“Do not call me that. That is my title anymore. It makes me uncomfortable.” Ambrosia said, her brown eyes capturing his again.

“It shouldn’t. It is your birthright as much as Dawn is mine. The knights of Ren may outnumber us but they are no match for two skilled warriors.”

“You think too much of yourself Ser Arthur.” She said, returning the compliment. “If we are going to be prepared for them, we should start practicing again and this time, do not be gentle with me. I can take your roughness.”

“I know you can but you still won’t be able to wield Dawn.”

She groaned.

“Only the worthiest in my house can wield Dawn.” He continued. “My older brother tried to wield it and he cut his fingers when the Imperial troops came for him, the same goes for the Imperial troops who found it too heavy.”

“So the legends are true. It is made out of magic.” Ambrosia said. Arthur walked to their bedroom where he kept it behind their clothes. He took it and showed it to Ambrosia.

She had seen it many times before but not like this. It seemed to ‘think’ and ‘know’ the wielder’s feelings because as Arthur began explaining the history behind it, it began to emit a light glow.

“…For over a hundred generations many men have wielded. There have been worthier men who have tried but they failed because they are not from my line. I was chosen by it when I defeated my brother and other knights in mock battle. After I joined the Kingsguard, I refused to fight with other sword except the one that was given to me by Rhaegar.”

“I’d hate to see that tradition broken but suppose she or Kylo capture me and kill you, what will become of this marvelous sword?”

A sad look crossed his face. He put it down, resting it against the wall.  
“It will wither and disappear. The glow it emits is from the life-force of the men and women who gave up their lives so it would be indestructible. If my line dies, so does my sword die. It will rust and wither until there is nothing and no one to remember it.”

Arthur stared at the sword. Dawn was everything to him. It was what remained of his old life. It was his legacy. He bared his long existence with the knowledge that as long as he lived, so would Dawn.

He was brought back from his thoughts by Ambrosia who put a hand on his cheek. He saw the intent in her eyes. Only this time, it was more than pure lust that drove her. It was genuine affection. He leaned forward and kissed her.

_Legacy, that is all there is to us. It is what we live and crave for. To be loved, to be remembered._

He took her in his arms and carried her to the bed. It was as if they were newlyweds, husband and wife, coming to know each other for the first time.

In the back of his mind, a voice reminded him that she wasn’t Elia. And Arthur agreed. She wasn’t Elia. Nobody could ever compare to Elia. But that didn’t make her any less special. In her, he had found one more purpose to live for, and another reason to smile.


	3. Playing with fire: Phoenixes and Wolves

_"I won't give in,  
because I am proud of all my scars."_   
**_~Faster by Within Temptation_ **

_"Thy hope of my time is ruined_."  
 _ **~BBC's The Hollow Crown (2012) based off Shakespeare's Henry IV part 1.**_

Sir Thomas didn’t want to tell his son ‘I told you so’ but he could not help it when that Alderaanian bitch berated him yet again for driving their precious cubs away.

“Your mother and I always loved to play and hide and seek. A chase game where I would be the hunter and she the deer. Other times, I was the deer and she was the huntress. We never got tired of it until that one time.” Thomas said. “I told you that woman was going to leave you broke.”

“I didn’t come here to listen to your complaints, pops.”

“No? You are short of cash aren’t you?” Sir Thomas chuckled. “I knew it. When it comes to Seymours, we are always so predictable and yet so arrogant to admit our flaws. Your uncle rose high, higher than any courtier. ‘We are wolves. We are phoenixes’ He would tell me and my siblings. ‘We will make the name Seymour be feared again.’ He was wrong of course. My father descended from the first Normans that came to England alongside the Conqueror. Raiders, merchants, boot-lickers, nothing more but my mother … Now that was a woman with great ancestry. After my father died, she used to say ‘you are like your father and your brother is like me.’ I don’t think she liked me very much.” He turned to Han who was still standing in front of him while Thomas looked at the latest holo-press. “You still have that portrait of her?”

Han nodded.

“Good. Heed my advice for once. Find yourself a nice woman and don’t let her go.”

“I can’t when I still have Leia.” Thomas laughed. “I did a big mess of things with her but I still think of her.”

“I figured you would say that. She was beautiful but the years haven’t been too kind to her as they’ve been to you. Though she has more power, which can only mean she will have tons of boy-lovers lining up outside the door.”

“You are one sick old fuck.” Han said with disgust.

“That I am, but at least I have the balls to admit it. What do you have? Hmm? Look what your son has done. Look at his cousin! The galaxy is in shambles again thanks to them. Nothing good ever comes from royals, especially a Skywalker royal. I told you that many times boy-“

“Don’t you call me boy-“

“I warned you what would happen if you continued your liaison with that witch. Now look at you! A man with barely any honor, coming to his dying father’s home begging him for money. How shameful!”   
  
Thomas stood up from his couch and went to his kitchen.

Han followed him, yelling back: “At least I wasn’t afraid to follow my dreams and fight for the woman I love. What have you ever done? Hiding in this lair like some underdog, living off your pension. That is no way to live. I married Leia, I formed a family. I worked hard to make sure they were safe. You forgot about mom and you didn’t give a crap about me until you found me in the streets and the only reason you did is because if the Imperials found me, they would find you. So do not talk to me about honor because you have none. You are just as ugly as me. I still have use of my legs, you can barely afford to walk without your robot leg malfunctioning every now and then. Why haven’t you gone to aunt Jane, huh? I am sure she and my cousins have offered to help you many times before. Why have you refused them? Is it because you are too stubborn to admit you are getting old?”

“I am capable of looking after myself!”

“You can barely walk, pops! Age is cruel! Life is cruel!”

“Get out, Han. I don’t need your pity and I have no desire to see my son coming to his father begging.”

“I didn’t come here for your money.”

“Then why did you come?” Thomas said. He sat down again. His robot leg beeped. A sign he needed to recharge it. Han was right. He could afford a new one that wouldn’t need recharging but just as Han said, he was too damn proud to ask Jane and his nieces for help. “Mock? Is that it. You want to have one good laugh at your old man before that Sith mongrel pup of yours has one at you?”

“I want to offer you a job. Do not laugh. It is for real. On my ship. I used to have a bigger ship and I wouldn’t be nice to you, but I have the money to buy you a new leg. What do you say, old man?”

Thomas grinned. “I must be really crazy.”

“Come on. It would be like old times when you beat my ass every time I came home late.”

“That’s a good pep talk you’re giving me, son but … I will stay here where I am needed.”

“Needed?! Pops, look around! You live in a filthy rat hole. This is as far from somewhere as you can get. I have money. I do not need your pity. I can get you that new leg.”

“I am fine the way I am, Han. Unlike you, I accept my age.”

“There is nothing good about being the way you are. Maybe that is what you want. To die old and forgotten by his loved ones, remembered by a few as a lecher and irresponsible parent.”

“When I was ever irresponsible?” Thomas shot back, daggers flowing out of his eyes. “I put a roof under your head, rescued you from that hell hole and gave you good clothing. Your aunt and I worked our butts off to make you and your cousins safe!”

“You gave me nothing! If you want to die dreaming of your past glories, go ahead. Die! But if you want to live the rest of your days reliving those glories, then come with me. Admiral Thomas Seymour, the scourge of your enemies, just like you used to.”

It was a tempting offer and like any of that nature, Thomas was tempted to take it. But, in the end, he ended up saying ‘no.’

“You are a fool, old man.” Han said and left.

Thomas watched him go. It wasn’t until he heard his ship going off in the distance that he went back to his couch and contacted the Resistance’s leaders and his sister, the retired Senator Jane Seymour.

“Did you take his offer?” Commander Marion Tyrell asked. Thomas shook his head and explained everything that went on between him and Han.

“Good. You need to stay off the radar. So does he, if Kylo Ren and Lady Ren were to find either of you, it would compromise the security of the galaxy.” Commander Tyrell explained. A pained expression had crossed her face when she said ‘Lady Ren’. Lady Ren had been her daughter. The eldest of her twin children whom she had named after the Greek Goddess of the Earth. When she turned over to the dark side and joined her cousin, her heart shattered. The only person left to pick up the pieces was her youngest daughter, Ambrosia, but she too left her.   
Ambrosia was the opposite of her cousins. Weak and scared of what her twin sister had become, she turned her back on the new republic and the resistance her mother and her aunt formed. Marion never forgave her. _  
In that, she and Leia are so alike_. Then again, the two Skywalker half-siblings were alike in many ways. Leia and Marion had failed their children as they had failed their spouses. When Leia lost Ben to the dark side, she pleaded with Han to help her and Han agreed but when they realized that their son couldn’t be helped, she blamed it on Han. __  
My son always did everything for that woman. Thomas thought. He would have stopped the suns’ rays from shining, or the wind from blowing on her face. And even after the rotten way she treated him, he still loves her.

“Worry not, Commander Tyrell. And sister, is that a new haircut? I like it.” Jane blushed. Her brother always knew how to make any situation look better.

“I see you haven’t changed a bit, Thomas. A spot is always open in my house if you want.”

“I am tempted but like I told Han, I am content to stay here, away from the chaos.”

“They will find you. The First Order always does.” General Leia Organa said. Her voice tainted by her old age, raspy and rough. “Should you need our help, just send a message.”

“Thank you for the offer … daughter-in-law but no thanks.” Thomas said having one last laugh at the former Princess of Alderaan. He turned to Jane. Their eyes met and they both knew what the other one was thinking. _If I could only be there to comfort you._ But they weren’t there. Their faces were nothing but holographic projections. _It is better this way._ They both thought.  
“God be with you, Jane.”

“And with you, Sir Thomas.”

They smiled at one another and moved their hands to touch each other’s cheeks. For a moment, they were back to their childhood home in England. They were playing in the grass, laughing at each other’s jokes and imagining what their lives would be and how many children they would have when they grew up.

The transmission ended. The figures of Jane, Commander Tyrell, General Organa disappeared and Thomas was alone with only his past memories to keep him by.

There was an old galactic saying that when a loved one died, you could feel it. Even if you were not Force Sensitive. Thomas Seymour didn’t know it yet, but he would come to experience that feeling in a decade from then, when his son’s life was extinguished by his offspring.

The Seymour name, everything his brother promised, would come true. But the galaxy would not look on their descendants kindly. Like any phoenix and wild wolves, when they were together, they were invincible but alone they were wild and uncontrollable, soiling the ground they walked on, and burning everything and everyone that crossed their paths.


End file.
